Reality is Illusion
by Masquerad3Cat
Summary: <html><head></head>When your world is drastically changed, what remains as truth? Rated for language</html>


**Disclaimer:**I own nothing you recognize, unfortunately.

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><p>All she could remember was intense pain. Yet, once she opened her eyes and looked herself over, she could see no injuries. There was a faint ache in her right shoulder but she ignored it and turned her focus onto her surroundings. She was lying on a hard wood floor in a dim hallway that looked to have no end in either direction. Doors were evenly spaced throughout and portraits hung next to them on the walls. She got up to look at one of them, hoping to get a clue as to where she was. The portrait had what could be estimated as a person but it was severely faded. As she explored the hallway she began to hear whispers; as if there were people in the rooms.<p>

"Hello? Is anyone there? Can you tell me where I am?" she called desperately, banging on a few doors.

No one replied to her pleas, yet the voices continued, getting louder and louder till the cacophony had her cringing and covering her ears crying for them to stop. A big spike of pain went through her body with no central point, causing her to scream out louder before a wave of black washed over her.

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><p>"Wake up bitch," a crude voice growled nearby, startling her from an uneasy sleep.<p>

This time her environment was painfully bright, with a naked fluorescent light above her. Her blinded vision takes in bars between her and a broad man who had an ugly frown on his face, glaring at her through the cell bars. A quick glance around took in a small cot and a wall that hid a toilet and sink.

"'Bout time freak. Didn't want you missing dinner now," he sneered as he pushed a tray with a bowl on it through an opening at the bottom of the bars just big enough to fit it.

She cautiously grabbed the bowl and pulled it to her, making quick work of the thin vegetable soup and bread from the tray, only then realizing how hungry she was, as if she hadn't ate in days. As she moved her right arm forward to grab the small glass of water a burning sharp pain shot through her shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain and knock the cup over. Looking over at her tormented arm she saw a small blossom of red forming on what looked to be a hospital issue long-sleeved white top.

"Ah, fuck, now I got to go get a doc. Got to be a problem, don't ya?" the guard growled.

"Where am I?" she asked quietly, holding onto her now bleeding shoulder.

"You'll find out soon enough," he said as he walked off down the hallway.

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><p>Three months. Time would have lost all meaning had it not been for the daily trips to see the doctors. It didn't take long for her to discover the purpose of this hell. Each day she was submitted to a different test, all of which focused on her mutation. The wound on her shoulder, which she found out was a gunshot wound, had healed over but still was tender from all the movements she was forced to endure. There were other mutants here, not many but on occasion she saw them.<p>

Today they promised something special in her tests. The guard grabbed her arm tightly to take her from the cell, his grip sure to bruise her thin arm. As she entered the lab room she saw another woman strapped to a gurney parked next to the lab table she was normally put on. The guard went and tied her down on it then left the room. She turned her head to look at the other current occupant of the room, who stared ahead with a glazed look in her eyes, a steady stream of sedatives coursing into her from an I.V. In her forearm.

It didn't take long for the doctor and his assistant to come in. The doc was a large and imposing man with a cold and calculating approach to everything. The assistant, on the other hand was thin, and seemed to take too much joy out of the pain she went through.

The assistant proceeded to roll her sleeves up and carefully remove the tape holding a pair of gloves to her wrists, efficiently checking the exposed skin to ensure there was no infection forming on the torn skin. Next he briskly took the cloth covering her fingers off, leaving the hand bare but secured tightly to the table.

""Afternoon patient 42B. Now, you might not remember her, but I'd like to introduce you to 74B. She was the one who actually tipped us off to you. We'd been following her for months and then here she goes and stumbles across a gem of a specimen like you, and all from a bank robbery gone wrong. Today, the goal is to see what the full strength of your power against another like yourself can do. Are you ready?" the doctor asked, not that he truthfully cared for her response.

His assistant took her exposed hand and set it upon the uncovered shoulder of the other woman. She immediately flinched and tried to draw her hand away but the doctor wanted none of that and had his assistant hold her tightly to the drugged blonde as she cried out pitilessly. Fortunately 74B never woke from her drugged state and 42B passed out shortly after.

She woke some time later, dizzy and confused but back in her cell. There was now a slim bracelet on her right wrist but she paid it no heed because she found that her daily meal was there as well. She wolfed down the same watery soup they always had and chugged down her water. To her surprise she discovered and indented grip on the cup when she put it down. Curious, grabbed a bar of her cell and squeezed it. Like the cup it gave under the pressure of her hand. Elated at this prospect of escape, after so long without, she quickly tore the bars apart to gain access outside the cell and raced down the opposite side of the hall from where she normally went.

Down a strange hall that she had turned into she found the cells of other mutants. Quickly deciding on it, she began breaking locks and letting the others out. Soon, the hall was filled with mutants all running in her direction towards any chance at freedom. An alarm blaring throughout the building broke any hope she had of getting out with no issue as it didn't take long after for the guards to appear. The small group began firing tranquilizer darts into the crowd, stopping many of their escapees before they could make it out. The darts had no effect on her, though, so she barreled into them, knocking the three large men aside with ease. Another couple of mutants attacked the guards, rendering them unconscious, before following her. After many twists and turns and some more guards they made it to an exit which they all charged out of. However, outside stood the doctor holding a remote in his hand. As soon as he saw the one he called 42B he grinned maliciously and hit a button.

At first it felt like lightning running through her veins, followed by ice and fire at the same time. She screamed out and collapsed, her muscles giving up on her as she suddenly felt like a limb had been cut off. She laid on the ground shaking painfully as more guards caught the rest of her fellow escapees and pulled them inside. What the guards failed to see that she briefly caught was a twin of one of the few that had made it outside ran off into the woods surrounding them. She prayed silently that he returned with help as another shockwave surged through her system, strong enough to knock her out.

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><p>The power neutralizer on her wrist stayed on permanently now. The doctor had also stopped taking her in for experiments, rather leaving her for the guards to torment at will. Many of them had sustained injuries during the breakout. They took their anger out on her, beating her at random. She lost track of time as she lay on the floor of her cell, too weak to make it to the cot. At least a week had passed and the pain was constant, so much so that time was blending together between her blackouts. It was during one of her lucid moments that she heard the sounds of fighting in the other hall. Thinking it as just a hallucination of her own, she allowed her eyes to close and laid there waiting for whatever those of the facility planned next. Footsteps sounded outside her cell and she cringed when they stopped. Bracing herself for whatever torments were to come she held her breath and hoped it would be quick. Thus she did not expect the pained and scared voice that spoke out.<p>

"Rogue?" the man asked, disbelief strong in his tone.

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><p>AN:<p>

Alright, so here is the start to an idea I came up with. For now this is going to stand alone till I can some more chapters typed up and then I'll start a regular(ish) update of everything. And yes, I know the whole mutant experimentation thing has been done many times but it got what I needed, so meh.


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